Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Psst...Be sure to keep reading 'til the end for a chance to win a $100 Visa gift card!

Our family loves the Philadelphia Chickens CD from Sandra Boynton. But there's one song that's hard to sing along with--"Busy Busy Busy," sung by Kevin Kline. He sings these lyrics at such a fantastically frenetic pace:

"We're very very busy and we've got a lot to do, and we haven't got a minute to explain it all to you...." (You can listen to a clip here.)

Well, even though a lot of our mornings are relaxing, we do have some busy mornings...or busy afternoons, or busy evenings. I'm often in a frenzy when we have to get out of the house, no matter what time of day it is! So there are a few things that help us when we're "very very busy and we've got a lot to do":

Easy grooming routines. Even if I blow dry and straighten my hair and do makeup (none of which I do every day!), I can complete that routine in about 15 minutes. Chickie has a short bob haircut that doesn't require a lot of work--very important for a girl with a tender head who doesn't want me spending lots of time messing with her hair! And Zoodle's the easiest of all of us. Gotta love low-maintenance boys.

Community baths. Okay. I admit this one won't last forever. But with a 4-year-old and a 2-year-old who still need lots of help washing up, it saves time for me to stick them in the tub together, climb in with them, and get 'em clean.

Velcro on kids' shoes. Need I say more?

Easy breakfasts. Homemade biscuits, bacon, and omelets are great, but if we have a meal like that it's usually at dinnertime! For our morning meal, convenience is key, especially when we're "very very busy." As I write this, Chickie and I are eating Kellogg's Apple Jacks with milk, and toast. It didn't take long to fix, and our mouths enjoy the flavor while our bodies enjoy the vitamins and whole grains (9 grams whole grain per serving of Apple Jacks, plus 100% whole wheat in the toast!)

Now it's your chance to win a $100 Visa gift card! For all the fine print and official rules of the contest, visit this link. Here's how to enter:

You can enter up to 2 times. Choose up to 2 of these 3 entry methods:

Leave a comment here sharing how you deal with days that are "very very busy" or what your favorite fast breakfast is.

Tweet about this contest, and leave a comment with a link to your Tweet. (Sorry, Tweets only, not Facebook posts.) To link, post your Tweet then look directly underneath it. It'll show when you Tweeted ("less than a minute ago" or "5 minutes ago"). Click that; it's a link to your Tweet!

Post about this contest on your blog, and leave a link to the blog post.

Spam comments will be deleted.

Remember, you can only enter twice, and you need a separate comment for each entry. The contest will close next Monday. Good luck! (And to improve your chances, enter at the other blogs involved in this series--just click here!)

Last week's winner:

The winner of last week's gift card was determined by my trusty friend random.org....

Congratulations to commenter #46, 3 Boys and an Old Lady! This winner wrote, "Weekends were made for waffles in our household."

*****Mom’s Breakfast Club was started to help educate moms and families about kids’ cereal and share the scoop on their nutritional benefits and ingredients. To learn more about the program, visit http://www.betterbythebowl.com.

The only way I survive a busy morning (or life) is by making lists. Also, during the week I just eat dry cereal for breakfast. It's much easier to take to work with me because I never have time before I leave the house.

Kelloggs eggo waffles and kelloggs nutrigrain bars are two favourites in our house when we're in a rush, especially with the kids...but I also love the nutrigrain bars as well! karasceviour at hotmail dot com

I like to keep muffins on hand as a fast breakfast. When I get a chance I bake them and stash them in the freezer. They're easy to pull out and microwave for a few seconds to thaw them. That way my daughter can eat hers in the car as we head out to daycare and I can eat mine once I get to work.

We try to get everything packed and together the night before - school backpacks, lunches, folders filled out, notes to teachers, clothes laid out, mommy's work lunch made, I even lay out my jewelry - THEN I make sure to get up a little before the kiddos to get coffee made, breakfast made, etc. Of course, I have a new baby due the end of this month, so our morning routines may be a little out of whack for a while!! :)

My son is a big cereal eater and I also try to make things I can freeze and easily pull out and pop in the oven!

My kids are pretty self sufficient for breakfast. They love yogurt cups, so that is a no brainer. What I do do that makes life easier for them is pre-cut the English muffins and bagels. My older son is old enough to toast them himself, but I don’t quite trust his knife skills yet, so if they are already cut, it’s one less thing we have to worry about.

I prepare most things the night before so that our mornings run more smoothly. I make lunches, prepare bags and place them by the door, pick out clothes, clean up, etc. We also usually have a "quick" breakfast of a cereal bar, cereal or toasted waffles with peanut butter :)

There aren't any children at home anymore, but when my daughter was that age she was usually in such a rush that she grabbed some cereal or toaster strudels--once a week I would try and fix a hot breakfast like eggs and toast--she also liked those microwaved pancakes--those are really easy!!!

If we have a very busy morning when we all need to leave at the same time I make sure I get up first. This way I can get myself done before everyone else is up. When they are up I can focus on helping them.

Muffins are great! We have a great recipe for Mormon Muffins which uses All-Bran cereal and buttermilk and will stay fresh in the fridge for a couple of weeks. So, you can actually keep it and bake the morning you want to serve! You should be able to search for Mormon muffins and find them. WHITECARRIE69@YAHOO.COM